This Green Earth Chris Cherniak, Claire Wiley

Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, breaks down the data and latest developments regarding the 2024 sea ice extent and what this means for our future.Then they revisit a conversation from earlier this year with author and CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, who discusses his newly released book, "Before it's Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America."

Chris and Claire talk noxious weeds with Sara Jo Dicken at Ecology Bridge and how the public can help fight noxious weeds. Then, geophysicist Duncan Agnew discusses a study regarding global timekeeping and global warming.

Award-winning author David Quammen, an American writer who focuses on science, nature and travel, talks about his work over the years and what’s next. Then, Bonnie Monteleone from the Plastic League Project discusses the organization’s latest studies and what they are doing to clean up our oceans.

Award-winning environmental journalist, Zoë Schlanger who speaks about her new book, "The Light Eaters," a deep immersion into the drama of plant life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence.Then, Biologist Naira de Gracia walks us through her new book, "The Last Cold Place – A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica," which offers a dramatic and captivating window into Antarctica and a generation of chinstrap penguins.

In the first half of today's show, Chris and Claire revisit a previous episode featuring Peter Alagona and a discussion on the resurgence of wildlife in American cities (01:24)Then, Daniel Lewis, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Notre Dame, discusses his new book, "Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future" and explores nature and survival told through the lens of twelve remarkable tree species. (31:27)

Cowgirl and conservationist, Heidi Redd, discusses her new book titled, "A Cowgirl’s Conservation Journey: Stories from the Dugout Ranch," which highlights the largest private holding in Bears Ears National Monument. And former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who wrote the forward to Redd's book, joins the discussion.Then, Claire and Chris speak with David McGuire from Shark Stewards about the importance of seagrasses and what their decay could mean for our oceans.